This is a change I made to the house almost immediately but forgot to blog. There have been a lot of existing conditions here that I’ve decided to just live with “for now” because I knew I’d fix them later but the bathroom window just could NOT wait. That is my neighbor’s kitchen door and window 15 feet away from the main bathroom of my house.
Due to the vagaries of lot lines and house layout, my bathroom window faces the kitchen window and door of the next door neighbor’s house – only 15 feet distant. It is also visible from the sidewalk. Here’s the lovely “before shot” It’s not exactly conducive to brushing your teeth in jammies or to having a private sit! I think the house’s previous owners had been putting down the mini blinds to use their bathroom for the last 62 years.
I DESPISE MINI BLINDS!!!
I’ve been an apartment dweller way too long to find any charm in the privacy and light-repelling possibilities of miniature blinds, even industrial metal ones like these. I’ve been in the habit of taking them down, saving them until move out and putting them back up intact for years. I was not going to live with looking at them for one week in my new home. I planned to install insulated cellular shades on all the other upstairs windows but they don’t seem a good fit for the humidity of the bathroom.
Enter: Artscape Decorative Window Films, via Home Depot. Most of their designs are, frankly, quite kitchy, but their rice paper product is actually lovely. I’m not normally a fan of faux things that aren’t what they seem but this seemed like a fabulously efficient way to turn a clear glass window into a frosted one at minimal cost and with no waste.
Judge the results for yourself:
I’m so pleased with how it came out. It was insanely easy to install and looks lovely, both from a distance and close at hand and from the outside as well. Perfect privacy with nearly all the natural light of clear glass.
I am a huge fan and have already installed them at my sister’s apartment and as the decorative house numbering system of my front door. Be sure to check out the post on front door numbers for more!
